Monday morning we left the Dallas area and drove in almost continuous rain past Shreveport and south to Chicot State Park in Louisiana. Occasional glimpses of green leaves on shrubs and understory trees provided about the only bright spot on the drive.

Chicot is not "just off the interstate" and we don't have GPS, so we had to use old technology called maps. But we made it and got a campsite. It's an older campground with a lot of ravines; some parking pads are joined by wooden decks in order to provide a flat sitting and dining spot. The showers and restrooms need maintenance but the area is beautiful. Kudos to the intrepid family behind us who spent the 30 degree night in tents.

Tuesday morning we packed up and headed through the rest of Louisiana to Mississippi. Two bridges along the route--over the Atchafalaya and the Mississippi--were high enough to cause me some white knuckle moments and a wrong turn going through Baton Rouge required actually asking for directions. But we eventually made it to Ocean Springs near Biloxi and the Gulf Islands National Seashore.

We found the Visitor Center first and got directions plus several suggestions for other places to camp along the gulf from a very helpful volunteer. We had a reservation for the Davis Bayou campground and good thing; the campground is nearly full. Our site is small and slopes toward the back but very adequate. The best sites are in the center of the big loop but all taken. We've seen license plates from Illinois, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and other northern locales plus a number from neighboring states. The showers and restrooms are not fancy but well-kept and a big improvement over the last two campgrounds.

The weather gurus promise 50s and sun today, which sounds great. We need to do a grocery run and downtown Ocean Springs appears to have some very cute shops. There is a Sandhill Crane area close by and a bike route into town. My speed will depend on how many alligators we see.